Iraq - Shiites seize Basra govt office

Agence France-Presse | April 5, 2004

[HAL9000]

FOLLOWERS of the radical Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr took over the governor's office in the British-controlled port city of Basra today.

Dozens of armed Mehdi Army militiamen stormed the governor's office in the southern city at dawn, raising a green flag on the roof of the building, he said.

Mehdi Army militiamen were seen deployed inside and on the rooftop of the governor's office alongside policemen who had been inside the building when it was overtaken.

Four hours later there were no British troops in the area.

On Sunday, Sadr supporters seized a number of police stations and other public buildings in several Iraqi cities, including a major suburb of Baghdad, during a day of violent clashes.

The violence against US-led coalition troops left at least 24 Iraqis and up to nine coalition soldiers dead.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

This sounds fairly urgent. It will most likely be the lead story tomorrow.

Followed, hopefully, by the insurgents' surrender.

[FRgal4u]

No kidding. It sickens me too. why are we even there!

To be honest, the only solution now over Sadr, is one and only one person - Sistani.

You can't fight these zealots with military power, we don't have enough people there. We can only fight it with a greater power of its own kind - and that will only come from Sistani.

IF, big if, our own zealots in the Admin. (I am talking about the neocons insisting the new Iraqi democracy must be like our own) are willing to make a bet with Sisrani, allowing some sort of moderate form of Islamic govn. of the new Iraq, Sistani "may" just may come out and tell his supporters to support the US to stablize the country. It was Sistani and his senior clerics' supporters chasing Sadr down (remember Sadr was the trouble maker last yr then all of a sudden he was quiet). Seniority plays a big role in Islam, and this Sadr guy means noithing to the elders. We need to work with sistani to get a real solution out of this. If we don't and thinking military might will win the day, we are looking for daily headlines like the ones we had on Sunday (or worse).

I knew we are in trouble there as soon as folks like Bremmer said he has the final say on the which laws will pass in the constitution in Iraq and complete refusal to buy in Sistani's election timetable. Iraq may have the Sadr zealots, we have our own zealots as well. I hope our government will oust the same zealots here before they rot this administartion through. The only worse option than these zealots here are the democraps and the left.

Sistani is the only way out, pleases him, all these stuff will get snuff out in a hurry. Compare to Sadr, Sistani is far more moderate, so it is a matter to choose between the two. If we were so afraid of the rise of an Islamic state after Saddam, we should have never gotten in. But then again, I bet those neocons never tell the president about this. Get Sistani, have the election, rid the handpicked governing council, call our boys home, rid our own zealots, and close this chapter off once it for all. Maybe we will never see the rise of those neocons ever again in this country, and that maybe just as good as ridding Saddam from Iraq, just doing the same here.

jmho.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Basra government office take-over reported here.

[F14 Pilot]

Thank you very much...

[Captain Rhino]

Sadr has announced his admiration for Hamas and has said he is their agent of opposition to US forces in Iraq. He and the pro-Saddam thugs in Falluja are dangerous because the US is trying hard not to inflict unnecessary casualties in Iraq. They have a false impression of US capabilities. They both need about a 24-hour demonstration of unconstrained US power aimed at producing maximum casualties among the Sadr followers and among the citizenry of Falluja. Personally, I think Falluja should be first and the only thing we should be careful to do is use maximum indirect fire to keep down our casualty count. Once they see how quickly we can run up the body count, their manners will improve.

[Broadside Joe]

Problem: FOLLOWERS of the radical Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr took over the governor's office in the British-controlled port city of Basra today.
Dozens of armed Mehdi Army militiamen stormed the governor's office in the southern city at dawn, raising a green flag on the roof of the building.

Daytime solution: Dispatch Apache to the area and deploy two Hellfires in through the windows.

Nighttime solution: Dispatch AC-130 to the area and deploy all armaments on said building.

Repeat as needed.

[stocksthatgoup]

surround the facility and take transfer all within to gitmo

[stocksthatgoup]

your style is impeccable

[Steel Wolf]

To paraphrase Stalin, one martyr is a tragedy, a million martyrs are statistics. Beyond a certain number, 'martyrs' all kind of run together. There has been so much death in Iraq, that one more isn't going to inspire anyone. He'll just be one more dead guy. And he's certainly one that merits the dirt nap. I wouldn't worry too much about creating any more martyrs, we need to focus on asserting control. They understand that well enough.

[Broadside Joe]

They've enjoyed the taste of carrots. Now it's time they taste the stick.

[goldstategop]

There's little doubt the Islamic Lenin of Iraq is making his move cause he thinks we will do nothing to stop him.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr stand on a roof over his portrait while occupying the governor's residence in the southern city of Basra April 5, 2004. Iraq's U.S. administrator Paul Bremer said on Monday radical Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was an outlaw threatening Iraq's security. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

[537cant be wrong]

its also time to start using their gay-weed turbans
as toilet paper then stuff it down their throats.

the dirty Sum beaches !

[Tailgunner Joe]

A police officer joins supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr celebrating on the roof while occupying the governor's residence in the southern city of Basra April 5, 2004. REUTERS/Atef Hassan

[Tailgunner Joe]

Sheikh Abdel al-Satar al-Bahadli, an official in radical Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr's Army of Mehdi, brandishes a sword after taking over the governor's office in the British-controlled port city of Basra. AFP/Antonio Scorza

[thoughtomator]

Isn't it convenient that so many of these bad guys wear black hats?

[Bonny Dick]

In your world, conservatives are labeled as neocons and zealots while Sistani is held out as a savior.

You are hopeless.

[Bonny Dick]

Where are our snipers?

[FRgal4u]

no - not all conservatives are neocons

you can be a fiscal conservative without being a neocon
you can be a socially conservative without being a neocon
neocons are a narrow grp of cabal pushing the US into the Iraqi war
neocons are the ones in bed with Chalabi and the rest of Iraqi Exile hypsters hyping this country into an unpopular war - and then Chalabi comes out and say - we got the Americans into Bagdhad and we are all heroes in error. Tell that to the families who lost their sons and daughters in Iraq.

If you think using military might alone can calm the Sadr thugs, you are sorely mistaken. We don't have enough guys there, and even if we do, I doubt the American public will tolerate headlines of 10 troops killed today, 13 the next day, 11 the day after. The neocon cabal never expect the aftermath of the war, those exiles have no support in Iraq. The only workable option is Sistani. To think the new Iraq will model the Jeffersonian type of democracy is the only pipedream the neocon cabal could image (after they were drunk from the koolaid fed by Chalabi). Yes, I don't like the neocons, I want them purged, I want them ousted. Why don't I like them - simple - they were responsible for the unnecessary losses I have seen in my town, the families who lost their sons and daughters on an optional war.

Neocons are the giving us conservatives a bad name, get them out before they rot the core.

jmho.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Neocons are the giving us conservatives a bad name, get them out before they rot the core.

You're too late.